User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Mark
a Audio Enthusiast

Date Reviewed: February 1, 2000

Bottom Line:

I mostly agree with the previous positive comments. Sound is remarkably tight given the price of unit. I experienced significant improvement when routing coaxial digital out into an anti-jitter filter (De-jittering really helps 1-bit players, which I believe this is). Not suitable for reference player, but ideal for entertaining, casual listening. Held off on review until mechanical reliability sustained itself, which it has now for just over a year. Recommended. Only drawback is that the random play cycles for only (I think) 25 selections, then must be re-engaged. Given typical track length, this must be done every 90 minutes or so. Not a big deal, but seems with modern digital tech that the random cycles could have been extended. The disk-changing transport is not very quiet, but again, this is a minor shortcoming given price point. Overall 4 stars, definitely 5 stars when considered in light of $$$ required to own. Better sound and usability overall than my Yamaha 5-disk player, (which now, like me, has some age on it) but not by that great a margin.

For the price I paid,it's an excellant bargin.Reconditioned from Pioneer with only a 90 day warranty. I am using this with MSB Link-Dac from RIC at EVS with Mods.Sound is better than I expected. Now I don't have to get up from my seat every 10 minutes or so.

I am in total agreement with the previous reviewer, Bob. And I was able to purchase the unit at $149 at a closeout ....apparently it is being discontinued.Grab it on the cheap, if possible, hook up to a DAC, and enjoy the continuous music.

I bought this to use for background music--figuring I'd fill it with 25 of a genre, hit random, and go about my business. I didn't want a bigger-capacity changer--I figured I'd never change out 100+ disks. For this purpose, the machine is first-rate. The "random" play sems truly random, without a lot of repeated sequences. The surprising thing, though, is the sound quality. Used as a stand-alone CD player, it sounds pretty good--nice separation, good channel balance, nice dynamic range, very clean. However, the machine has a digital output (either optical or co-ax), and I am taking the signal out from there and running it through my Sony DAC. This really sounds better than any $300 unit has a right to sound. It won't replace my main transport for those times when I want to do "serious listening," but it doesn't produce anything requiring apologies. One tip: BUY THIS QUICK--rumor has it that it will be discontinued in favor of the 101 disk unit, which is double the price.